Bunker Museum

The displays sit in the bunker's own chambers, with infographic panels fixed to the bare concrete. Much of the story is local: this valley through the last years of the Second World War, and then the Cold War decades, when the Pusteria corridor mattered to NATO. That second half is the part few people arrive expecting, and it is the part that stays with them. The rooms are cold, dim and unrenovated, and the exhibition uses that rather than fighting it — the effect is a time capsule of the valley's twentieth century. No military background is needed to follow any of it.

• Dress warm. Inside the bunker it can be just a few degrees even in summer — bring a jacket.
• Audioguide. It downloads to your own phone, so sort that out and bring headphones before you arrive.
• No café. There is no snack or coffee shop in the museum; bring your own food. Toilets are inside.

The museum stands in Dobbiaco by the Pusteria valley road, and the last stretch is short whichever way you come: the Baumann bus stop is about 160 m from the door, the nearest car park about 350 m. Both leave you on the road with the entrance in sight. Before going underground, stop on the small terrace at the entrance — the view over the valley opens out from there, and there is nothing to see once you are inside.

Better: a hot afternoon or a wet one. The bunker holds its own temperature whatever the weather does outside, which makes it a useful place to have on the list when the valley is baking or the cloud is down on the peaks.

Avoid: the morning. On most days the doors open only after lunch, and only midweek is there a morning slot at all.